Marmiduke

This one is dangerously mellow. That distinct Morse vibe is really accentuated by that superb violin number by posu. That on top of the trademark production values we've all come to expect, this is a mix of great harmony and smooth, smooth smoothness. While Morse's style and production would go on to get even better and more complex, this slice of jazzy-summery musak represents exactly what propelled him to those greater heights. Belongs in anyone's playlist if you've ever liked a Morse song.

Quite an excellent movement of Metroidness. Metroid music is the sort of music that doesn't really belong in the bombastic, full-ranged orchestra style, so mixers really need to go the extra mile in arrangement to pull it off. I feel that's been achieved here. More than just a quaint medley, this mix articulates some pretty iconic themes from the series in a way unique to the genre, and the talent and original content from the composer smooths it into a cohesive whole. It sounds professional and indicative of classical composition. While it breaks no new ground, its still succeeds at representing Metroid from a different perspective. Good job.

Wow, I haven't heard this in ages. I used to listen to this all the time for its full sound, prominent percussion and gratuitous arrangement. Relistening to it now, I can totally see why this was a favourite of mine. Not much I can add in retrospect that others already haven't. That trumpet is dodgy, but it's out of the picture quite quickly and everything else sounds fantastic to me today. All in all, an excellent reminder why Mazedude was and still is one of the best. This was a blast to fall in love with again.

A wonderfully rich take on a prominent Deus Ex theme. Having played the game only recently for the first time, the familiarity of the music really brings out how much work has gone into making this mix pop. It's livelier, more dynamic and more interesting in its construction than the source track, and yet everything new here still inherently feels like it could belong in the Deus Ex universe. Nice attention to detail and selection of sounds. Love that awesome Asian/synth infused bridge around the 2:20 mark. And Jillian's vocals interspersed throughout the track give the mix that humanity that juxtaposes with the dominant synthetic presence, both sonically and thematically. This is a stellar ode to Deus Ex, and more of the professional work we've come to expect from this mixing duo. Love this one to bits.

Loving thiiiiis. Love that full, complete sound. The mix progresses with such a natural confidence that its easy to stop thinking about the music and just absorb it. Intersecting of the two melodies is brilliantly handled; they seem to play nice with eachother rather than bouncing off one another or competing for the spotlight. Always nice to listen to something of this quality level. Dat sheen of polish is beautiful.

Kind of an interesting techno mix. It's frenetic but actually kinda constrained at the same time. Sounds haven't aged as much as some of the heavy electronica mixes of the same era, and I very much appreciate what variation was included to break up the repetition. I've not heard the Einhander OST, but it shows promise. This is a nicely structured track; but it comes up empty on being remarkable. It serves its purpose well, at the very least.

Does exactly what it says on the box: provides dance music version of game track. It's not exactly the most interesting piece of art I've witnessed, and yet judging it based on its ambition, its perfectly adequate. The synths and beats are punchy, the breakdown was nice and it kept a semblance of variation throughout, minor as it was. It's a dance track, basically. I liked it for that, and I think it shows great promise too.

Lots of things going on and lots of directions in sound being explored. It's hard to see the cohesive whole amongst the shifts in sound, but the mix is brilliant on a technical level. The entire phase of the brass and organ was inspired and a clear highlight. Guitar and piano work also served towards the mix's high quality, I just wish the ideas and the interesting pairing of instruments were held together within a tighter overall construct. Not sure I fully 'get' the sum of its parts after two listens, but the parts themselves are really cool.

This is a really sweet one. Definitely fits right into the irregular rhythms and distinct stylings of jazz playing, and on top of that there's such a warmth to the arrangement that made it excessively enjoyable. As is going to be the case with jazz arranging, the source gets swamped with technique and for long patches I struggled to relate the piece with the correct melody, but rest assured, it does shine through at key moments and is a definite backbone to the piece. A feel-good arrangement coupled with some pretty piano playing. No complaints here, really.

Some tops atmosphere and a pretty cool trip-hop rendition of the main melody won me over in the end. There's a lot to enjoy about this mix, even though it does have its fair share of problems. True to being trip-hop inspired, its a lengthy and repetitive exercise, which probably wasn't necessary in order to achieve what the mixer was going for. A lot of the mix seems like space-filling; its a shame that space wasn't filled with some fresher interpretation. The guitar sample is bleedingly obvious in its artificiality, but despite the fact that a better sample/recorded performance would improve the technical sound, the dated sample adds a certain texture its own, so I'm not as flustered about listening to it as I thought I would be. In all, not a bad effort and a refreshing approach to IceCap.

10 years on, this one is starting to show its age. The samples are dated to a degree that it does infringe on the arrangement itself, but thankfully not too much. This is very straightforward stuff, and it's barely worth nitpicking. It represents a genre and a time-period of amateur music production as well as any other trance mix does, and people that like that kind of thing would love this to bits. I like a few of the ideas here, like the transitions and the slower segments, and its never truly grating on the ears, but as far as defying its own generic pedigree, its unsurprising and uninspired. Not at all bad for what it is, though.

Some deeply rewarding electronica right here. I'm a massive Alexander Brandon fan, and this has his vibe oozing out of every orifice. Fantastic percussion and synthwork are the highlights on this one, but it is the intelligent arrangement that doesn't overplay itself that ascends this to the top of the pile as my favourite recent remix. Extremely cool stuff.

I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would. The intro made me reel back, as it comes on quite strong and I got the feeling that the hard lo-fi production had been over-emphasised a tad. But it turns out that it does melt into the fuller spectrum once things get kicking, and I got really into where the mix was going. Personally, I think the mix overreaches and could have definitely used a bit of a tighten, but I wouldn't go as far as calling it repetitive (at least not detrimentally). Most of the mix sounds like it has good purpose, and yet I find myself wanting each section to flow a little brisker. Such an irregular mix in both sound and structure is always going to divide people. I for one think this is a fantastic treatment of the source that recalls the golden age of Gameboy music; the good and the bad.

It nice that people are recognising the quality of juxtaposition in this mix, as my first worry was that some people's ears wouldn't take to the grainy, porous crunching of the percussion. Anyone that grew up with a console before the 16-bit era may get a nostalgia smack from it, but what it provides music is much more interesting. I don't think I'd class lo-fi as my favourite genre, or indeed jazz, but halc's prowess with chiptune experimentation does add new flair to the sound of each. The lo parts sound better because of the jazzy parts and vice-versa; a superb tit-for-tat approach that doesn't forget to capture that Pilotwings vibe either. Lots going on on and below the surface with this one. Quirky and off-kilter, but smarter than your average mix treatment.

Wowzers. Haven't got around to checking out the Human Revolution soundtrack, but I've heard it's a real treat. And if this mix is any indication, I'm going to enjoy it. Ethnic fusion needs a lot of effort, skill, restraint and purpose, and this mix embodies all of these traits. Such a satisfying build and terrific development of textural soundscaping. There's instruments being plucked, accented vocals and bass-heavy synths all over the place, and it all makes musical sense. I'm a big fan of this. One of the more impressive remixes of current-gen videogame music I've heard in a great while. (And I hardly noticed this is technically a medley.)

Aquatic Ambience gets the Triforce Majeure treatment. Could the gods be any more generous? This is a pure, meaty trance chill track that knows when to show off and also when to be restrained. And mostly, it restrains, which is a refreshing take on such a capable, sweeping melody. Yeah, it's conservative, but its also honorable. Which is better than being progressive but dishonorable. The piano is slightly too shrill by my ear, but all is forgiven by those kicks from the kettle drum. That's a detail of complete brilliance. Also impressive are the newly stylised arpeggios and terrific marine atmos that really transports the music to a different depth. Maybe it's slightly darkened by the shadow of Triforce Majeure, but this mix still holds its own. A must listen for anyone who loves the original song (which should be everyone).

Brilliant theme presented with a charming, lush-for-the-time celtic rock flavour. The elephant in the room is the aged samples, particular that very shonky electric guitar that just doesn't cut it in 2013. You'd definitely need a time machine to get the full impact of the impressive treatment given to the slight but wonderful melody. Samples aside, its delicate attention to detail and fusing mild electronic funk into it set it apart from the other Far Promise mixes that hit the site at the same time. Great, basic structure with particularly good intro/outro... and it doesn't overstay its welcome.

This is sort of a Mazedude meets Shnababula arrangement, which is basically a divine marriage. I can't really fault anything about the mix in general, but I do find it strangely funless to listen to. It has nothing to do with the piano or the source melody; it just doesn't push its light tone hard enough for me to really get into the swing. I know what people mean when they mention the mix's dissonance, though I wouldn't describe it that way. There's an element of not travelling down expected avenues, which can frustrate some, and it does ultimately confuse the feeling of the mix. It seems caught within the philosophies of Mazedude-wackiness and Shnababula-improv art without hitting the mark of either. Technically, I love this mix. But the concept could have been honed a tad.

Hard to get a trance track like this drastically wrong once you've locked down the staple elements of any good trance productions. I think where this one got slightly unstuck with some people is that the reverb (of which there is a heavy amount of) takes away from the traditional clarity of trance. Not being a big afficianado of the genre myself, it didn't bother me at all. There's not a whole lot distingushing this from the rest of the pack however. It's not as punchy as I'd like, and there isn't as much of a marriage between the folk origins of the source material and the melodic trance. It doesn't manage to break through the clouds, yet it does manage to entertain while it lasts, which will suffice.

Oh dear... Let's not beat around the bush here, this is a rough and ugly mix that exists purely to get a smile, or at most, a chuckle from its listeners. It's not long enough or complete enough to do much else. The quality of synthetic vocals are horrendously below standard and hard to decipher; the lyrics maybe funny but I wasn't laughing. There's a reason that the FF5 ROBOvoice has become an endearing classic, and this one is largely obscured. This is more a demotape for its far more enjoyable and listenable twin.

Yowza... this is some seriously strong classical composing on OCR! Final Fantasy music has always been overtly classical, but this takes it to a whole new level. I'm usually torn between whether I enjoy the traditional string quartet sound, but this... this won me over. Dense with detail and nuance, it deserves and demands several listens to soak it all up. I enjoyed each movement in different ways, but would have to admit that it is NOT ideal for anything but active listening. If you are going to listen to this one, stop what you are doing and LISTEN. It'll help you enjoy it all the more. MORE ARRANGEMENTS AND PERFORMANCES OF THIS CALIBRE PLEASE! So ridiculously competent.

Cool fusion sounds happening here. Definitely leaning more toward rock, but there's nothing wrong with that when it's rock done well. Orchestral accompaniment is pretty snazzy and even spread, and the little sonar beats were a small, but brilliant touch. I like it when a blend of mixing styles is actually justified, and the bigger, brassy orchestral sounds really do compliment the more straightfoward guitar and drum rock. I don't know if I'd be too hot on each element on their own, but as a combo, I love it.

Yowza! Uh... yowzer! This is a relentlessly awesome flexing of production muscle. Nails the spooky vibe on center, but it's kind of hard to notice with so many amazing things going on left, right, on top of and underneath. No matter where you look, you're going to be impressed. This mix is crazily expert. Not used to THESE levels of electronica craftsmenship around here. It makes everything else seem... underpowered.

So I gather the extremely artificial-sounding orchestral intro was supposed to humanise the melody before it was turned into a trance hook, which is a nice concept, but it isn't really pulled off. The samples are weak as hell and the sound is dull enough that individual instruments just blend into a big noise-soup. On top of that, the storm FX add next to nothing in terms of atmosphere, so I could have done without them. The entire section seemed to miss its motive. It still belongs, and its well arranged enough that it doesn't become unwanted, but it wasn't treated correctly. As for the trance section... yeah, it's perfectly amiable, low-tier trance. I had fun with it. The little additions with the piano keep things alive, and are probably my favourite part of the mix. Again, nothing sounds sharp enough, but its nothing worth crying over. It's a well spaced, thoughtfully arranged mix, but damn those questionable production issues.

Reading through this massive review thread, I never knew there were so many poetry radicals in the videogame remixing community. Who would have thought? I for one really enjoyed the lyrics and always feel relieved when lyrics aren't too heavy or overly cryptic. This is tonally light, comic stuff that definitely doesn't diminish my enjoyment of the mix; if anything it enhances it. As with the lyrics, the music is a pretty light, poppy affair, but with deceptively robust production values. While I wouldn't say it would fool me into thinking it was at professional level, it does sound BORDERLINE professional. Star's voice is always dependable, and Protricity's Midas touch doesn't go unnoticed. I really enjoy this mix. Lots of creativity and attention to detail; it's cheeky, fun and an effortless showcase of mixing/singing talent. Love it.